Credit: Miss Earth Official Photography Team
Jay Houhlias
In August 2024, after being contacted by the Miss Earth competition for her work in the sustainable fashion sector, 22-year-old Jessica Lane flew to Sydney to compete in the four-day national Miss Earth Australia pageant, which she won. Two months later she flew to Manilla to compete in the international Miss Earth pageant alongside 76 other countries, and she won that too. It’s quite astounding considering prior to being contacted, pageantry was something Jessica never thought she’d “Give much of a go.”
“I still don’t think of myself as a pageant person,” she says. “I got into Miss Earth because I’ve had a lifelong love of our Earth and environment, and I’ve always known it’s been my purpose to make a difference in that field. I just didn’t know what avenue to pursue that.”
“You do have these preconceptions of what a pageant may be and what a pageant girl may be, and I could not have been more wrong. Everyone was there for such a good cause, and they were all such brilliant people.”
“I ensured to maintain the Aussie charm, you know, try and fly under the radar a bit, make sure everyone was my friend.”
The world of pageants is unfamiliar to most, but this seems to be a national unfamiliarity.
“Australia is not a pageant country. I knew that walking into it as well. Whereas in Asia… pageant queens are A-list celebrities. You cannot go anywhere without getting mobbed. We had armed escorts most places we went because you will get grabbed, photographed. It’s a lot… you’re fully in the public eye.
“But when I came home, no one knows, aaaaaand nobody cares,” she laughs.
Jessica went on to speak about her experience in the Philippines just after winning the title.
(Regarding pageant winners) “They are celebrities year-round. The day after I won, I went to get breakfast and the person serving me my omelette asked for my photo. There wasn’t 12 hours between me getting crowned and receiving that request.”
“Western countries it’s just not quite as big. Australia is nowhere near as immersed, which in a way is a gift, because it means I won’t get a big head!”
Australia does seem to have its big head phobia about it, there’s a culture of get on with it and get over it. While this may give Australians their charm, their ‘Oh yeah nah good stuff but gee just relax’ attitude, this too means there is less hype and attraction, and because of that, less opportunity. But as Jessica discovered, pageants are the perfect opportunity makers.
“I’ve been asked about the misogynistic side of pageants and if I found that an issue. But it’s nice to show the side of pageantry that is an independent platform for young women to create a voice and career for themselves… there is just nothing really in comparison that allows that exclusively for young woman to create a journey for themselves.”
Jessica doesn’t plan to continue flying under the radar, wanting to use her platform to create a life and career.
“I started studying journalism to become an environmental journalist and grow my circle of influence to as many people as I can, to inspire them, motivate them to be more environmentally conscious.”
“I realised one of the biggest, almost secret issues, with environmental destruction, climate change, global warming, is fast fashion. It’s responsible for more than 10 percent of C02 emissions and it’s one of the biggest industries contributing more carbon emissions than maritime and air shipping combined.”
“…Not enough people are talking about this, and each of us has the power to make a difference simply by shopping sustainably… Sustainable materials, sustainable resourcing – just showing people that looking good doesn’t come at the cost of our Earth’s health.”
“The ultimate goal is to have my own tv show or company that is more educational, about what everyone can do in their day to day lives to contribute to a greener tomorrow.”
I then asked Jessica what it’s like on the other side of the camera, to have studied journalism and learnt its trade, and then to be on the receiving on of it all, getting interviewed and engaging the media.
“Prior to winning to Miss Earth I was a national television journalist with Win News. I was only the casual, but I filled in for the whole state of Queensland, so I had a lot of experience conducting the interview and being behind the camera, but being in front of the camera is a whole other world.”
“Having that experience has been very beneficial because I know what people are looking for, how to find those angles, and hopefully not take them on a tangent…The week after I won I had a press tour in the Philippines, I think I had about 12 or 13 interviews in four days, and you can imagine that’s a bit exhausting.”
“Having that prior understanding of journalism and how to conserve your energy and give everything you’ve got in those interviews because that’s the only time that counts, was really a gift.”
“I just feel sorry for the people who are with me because the interviewers always ask the same questions, so my management team around me just kept hearing variations on the same thing over and over!”
Jessica was born in Melbourne and grew up on the Sunshine Coast. We spoke about how this beautiful and natural part of the country has informed who she is and what she wants to pursue.
“Growing up in nature shaped who I am, a lot. I find it hard to connect with people who grew up in cities and didn’t ever have that firsthand experience in the natural world because that’s my whole word.”
“All the interviews I do on my back porch because I live in a rainforest. There are all these people who may be living in cities overseas looking at this being like, wow, this is Australia, this is just her house… that’s such a gift for me, to give people that little glimpse of what it’s like to be an Australian.”
Jessica is the first ever Australian winner for Miss Earth and the first international winner of a big four pageant since Jennifer Hawkins in 2004. While Australia will most probably continue its humbling manner, there are certainly people in Jessica’s life who make no secret of how proud they are.
Her grandfather told her he’s never met anyone who has represented Australia in an international competition.
